MOVING LINKS 4 YOU

I just witnessed a JP King absolute auction.  All I can say is, if you ever get the chance to see one, go for it!  I believe you will be impressed with just how professional they are AND the results they get.  There is no resemblance at all to courthouse step auctions.  This company has been in business since 1915 and is polished.

The auction I attended was in Sisters, Oregon on July 20th. Some of you read the piece I wrote prior to the auction and I wanted to do a follow-up piece to answer some questions you had.
 
The home to be auctioned stands out as one of the finest homes I have ever had the privilege to see first hand.  Pride in ownership was apparent.  The owners did an exceptional job in designing and building a home that fit into the incredible landscape placed on the property to take full advantage of the immense mountain views. The dictionary is lacking words to describe all that I saw.

It is interesting talking to Realtors® regarding comparables on these unmatched properties.  It’s near impossible as there IS nothing to compare them to.  The owners were ready to move on and had listed it with a Realtor for six months at a decided upon price.  A few people viewed it over the six months but no offers came.  They needed to see what other options there were as obviously the buyers were lean.  Was there anything that would give them a sense of control over their future? 

The sellers’ Realtor® was acqainted with my husband, Mark, who works for JP King. He contacted Mark to see if he thought auction was viable in this case.  After much consideration, it was determined that it was a good way to go and the owners signed on the dotted line for an absolute auction and wrote a check to cover the marketing campaign.  This differs to traditional real estate in that there is a financial commitment upfront on the part of the sellers.  BUT, as you will see, the reward is there a short time later.

Marketing starts happening the moment the owners sign up for the auction.  Internet.  YouTube.  Impressive mail compaign.  Magazines.  Newspapers.  Word of mouth.  It’s a well oiled machine that goes into action.  If I think of Santa’s Elves, I get it!  All the hard work behind the scenes culminates on a particular day – the day of auction. 

Absolute auction brings a ”call to action” on a designated day. There is NO time to waste. It is the auction company’s responsibility to market the property to a broad expanse of qualified buyers who might come from anywhere in the world. These homes are of a high enough stature that the bidders will come from other cities, states and counties but ALSO that person down the street might be awakened to the fact this home is not going to be on the market much longer.  In an absolute auction, the home will be sold on the designated date.  That is a “call to action” and gets blood moving.  

On-site tours of the property are given for 10 days or so prior to the auction.  Potential buyers inspect and do their due diligence.  Those who are interested in bidding should pre-register and bring a $25,000 Money Order made out to themselves that will then be signed over to JP King if they are the winning bidder. 

The reason THIS auction is near and dear to me is that my husband was JP King’s onsite Auction Marketing Specialist who was on hand 10 days prior to the auction to give over 60 tours of the home.  That’s a lot of interest drummed up on this home.  There ended up being over 10 (was it 13?) qualified, registered bidders out of those 60.  Compare this to 3 showings over 6 months and no offers. 

Roll it forward to Auction Day. The Great Room was abuzz with many people gathering by noon.  A lunch was catered and live music was playing before the auction which was scheduled at 1pm. There was a quiet buzz going on throughout the house as many people mingled and toured it one last time and were on pins and needles to see the outcome.

The clock struck one and Ms. Christie King, JP King’s auctioneer and the current VP of the National Auctioneer’s Association began covering those details we all needed to know about how this auction would work.

Christie had one small item to auction to get everyone primed for the BIG auction.  It was a piece of ceramic art work created by a Central Oregon artist that was carried around the room by myself (I think someone called me Vanna!) so all could view it.  It was sold within 2 minutes’ time but did two things.  It got us all in the auction mode and the money raised from it will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis. 

O.K., I’m starting to feel nervous and excited now.  Everyone at JP King wanted this to go well because they are always very aware that the owners’ future and where they move from this home will depend upon how the auction goes.  These owners had a home already in mind but would they get enough from this auction to purchase it?  That was the looming question at hand. 

The room quiets.  Sssshhhhh.  Christie starts.  Everyone is intently watching each other and listening closely with paddles ready – those who are serious bidders.  One couple, who badly wants the home but is stuck in Seattle, is on the phone with a JP King representative so they can still bid. A bid comes in from one side of the great room.  Then from another side of the room. Then it slows.  Oh, another bid, this time from the deck.  Then another!  Quiet again.  Thinking.  Yes or yes?  Another bid.  Thinking. 

Finally!  The final bid comes in from the deck!  Rob and Becky won the final bid.  Oh, how lucky they are!  They are smiling big.  But where are the sellers?  What are the looks on their faces?  Are they happy?  Yes, I see them smiling.  Oh, what a wonderful day.  They got enough money to buy the home they had their hearts set on.  They can move on and the new owners are just so very pleased to know that they will be able to move into this incredible home in 30 days’ time.  How surreal.  How real!

Champagne!  How does the day wrap up?  JP King does a brief video interview with the sellers.  The sellers then want to share a bottle of champagne and toast JP King for doing everything they said they were going to do and more!  I could think of no better feedback in that moment.  They were pleased with the job done.

Had these owners not gone with auction, they could well be waiting for a buyer to come in a year or two or when?  I’ve seen exquisite to-die-for-homes on the market for YEARS!  We all have.  It’s just so hard to tell.  Absolute auction has given them a way to move on with their lives.  They got a good price on their home that nothing short of auction was likely to bring for a very long time.  It’s really a beautiful thing if you stop to think about it. 

I witnessed people being able to move on with their lives – to the next chapter.  Absolute Auction opened that door of opportunity that wasn’t likely to come any other way any time soon.  It’s that “call to action” that does it.  30 days from the auction day, the sellers AND movers will bring this to fruition.  Pretty fast.  Pretty sweet!

Note:  If you know of a home that might be a good candidate for this kind of auction, you can contact me and I’ll contact the powers that be.  We’ll get those ELVES in action!